Doctor urges more adults to join gene research

SIMCOE COUNTY – Dr. Lyle Palmer is looking for more adults to jump into the gene pool.
The scientific director for the Ontario Health Study is aiming to broaden involvement in a population-based study to include genetic research.
“The study has gone fantastically well. It’s the biggest one in Canadian history, and one of the largest in the world,” he said, adding the study includes 2.4 per cent of Ontario’s adults, a number he’d like to see climb to 10 per cent.
More than 10,555 people in Simcoe County have joined the study, but Palmer said there’s room for many more.
“We’re looking to enrich the base by asking people to give a blood sample. It’s a very valuable thing to have in terms of looking at biomarkers and diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer and depression,” said the geneticist. “The idea is we will find biomarkers that will predict those at risk and how we can implement new public health and clinical measures.”
Palmer added the research could help guide follow-up decisions and customize tests and treatments: “It’s about individualizing medicine and targeting therapies appropriately.”
Every adult in Ontario can enrol in the study at OntarioHealthStudy.ca, where they can complete an online questionnaire covering personal and family medical history, lifestyle and diet. A second round of questions will focus on mental health.
The study is funded by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Cancer Care Ontario, Public Health Ontario and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.
Researchers will offer feedback and findings to patients via their homepage, said Palmer: “We will tell people which study their data has been used in. That’s never been done before. People will enjoy that, and it’s a way of being engaged.”